EPA Rejects Biomass Exemption to Tailoring Rule

Date: May 24, 2010

Source: News Room

The EPA has rejected an industry push to exempt carbon dioxide (CO2) from biomass combustion from greenhouse (GHG) permit requirements, but is considering a new rule that could account for biomass' possible climate benefits under an approach that could employ lifecycle assessments. Industry groups including the American Forest & Paper Association and the National Association of Forest Owners, had urged EPA and the White House to exempt biomass CO2 emissions from its just-finalized "tailoring" rule requiring GHG limits in air permits. They argued that biomass used as fuel was essentially "carbon neutral" because plants absorb the same amount of CO2 while growing as is released when burned. The Clean Air Act generally requires facilities to obtain air permits if they emit more than 100 or 250 tons per year (TPY) of criteria pollutants like lead, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

The May 13 rule "tailored" the requirements of the act to accommodate GHG regulation but will only require GHG permits for facilities that emit more than 100,000 TPY of CO2. EPA rejected the exemption of biomass because industry did not show "administrative necessity" or the avoidance of "absurd results," legal doctrines used to justify the tailoring rule. The EPA also noted that the best available control technology (BACT) process for determining GHG permit limits gives the agency flexibility to consider the lifecycle impact of biomass fuel.

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